Page 60 of Hell's Kitten

Alannah frowns. “I did? Oh, yeah! I did!” She leans over to me and tries to whisper over the music. “They texted when I was at the bar. I told her to come here and apologize.” She crinkles her nose and giggles.

“Oh, no, you didn’t have to do that,” I say, feeling bad.

“It sounds like they do to me,” Kadence mumbles into his drink.

Lakelyn shakes her head. “We were blindsided yesterday, Jessie. That letter was threatening the whole squad with legalaction and being banned by Cheer First. I know you were just trying to protect us, but I never wanted you to leave.”

It suddenly strikes me that the language she’s using isexactlywhat I’ve been saying to Nim. I open and close my mouth, but nothing comes out.

“Well, it’s too little too late,” Alannah says firmly.

Lakelyn gives her a sad smile. “I know that. But we never wanted you to leave either, hon. In fact, I think your loyalty to Jessie is fucking admirable.”

It’s Alannah’s turn to open and close her mouth. “Thank you,” she says eventually.

Zazzle rests her hand on Lakelyn’s shoulder. “The reason why we’re here is that this is—as Alannah rightly said yesterday—all bullshit. We’re not going to take it lying down.”

“No, we’re not!” Lakelyn agrees excitedly. “I told you Brittany here is the niece of the sheriff, right?” Brittany gives us all a wave, but unfortunately, I don’t find this information to be as inspiring as Lakelyn perhaps hopes.

“Sorry, El,” I say, giving her what I hope is an earnest look. “Sheriff Chancey was literally there when the mayor’s wife stormed into the café and shut it down. She was keeping the peace and helping my boyfriend, but she was also told directly by the mayor to enforce his decision.”

But the girls are all shaking their heads. “This isn’t about my aunt, actually,” Brittany says. “Not technically. We can explain everything. In fact, I can show you right now if you want?” She swings her backpack around and gets her laptop halfway out before raising her eyebrows.

I blink in surprise. We only have a little table, but I’m definitely intrigued. I look around at the others.

“Oh, I definitely need to see this,” Alannah says.

“If we’re going to work on battle plans,” Kadence declares, “Harper and I need refills. Ladies?”

“I’ll come with you,” Zazzle offers.

Harper starts making as much space as possible on the table. Lakelyn spots a nearby unoccupied one and drags it over to place it next to our existing one.

There’s a flutter in my chest. For the first time since yesterday morning, something like hope dances in my heart. I’m not sure if it’s naïve to think I can do anything to get myself back on the squad, but there’s a feeling of defiance in the air between this eclectic group of people that makes me feel stronger.

I wish Nim was here. But maybe I need to tackle his concerns from a different angle before I can go back to him and try and make him see sense. Perhaps whatever the cheer girls want to show me will help give me a new perspective. Right now, this feels like exactly where I need to be.

For more than one reason.

I tell the group I’m going to nip to the bathroom before we get settled in, so I hop down from the table.

And come face-to-face with Parker.

My breath hitches, and I take a step backward, bumping into the table. I feel rather than see my friends all look up.

“Parker?” I say in surprise. His actual boyfriend, who I’ve already forgotten the name of is standing by his side. I guess they didn’t break up after all.

I thought I would be angry about that. I thought I’d feel a lot of things at seeing my ex again. I’ve daydreamed a great deal about this moment and always imagined it with Nim by my side so that I could prove to Parker how much I’d moved on from him and how much of an upgrade I’d made.

Except Nim isn’t here. We might not even still be together.

And yet I find myself looking at this weak, pathetic little man who never treated me right, and still manage to stand tall. Things might be complicated with Nim in this precise moment,but everything he’s done for me until now has made me feel treasured and so very important.

“Who’s Parker?” Kadence asks loudly, carrying a tray of drinks and shots back to our tables. “Do we like Parker?”

“Parker is the mouth-breather who made Jessie think they were dating when Jessie was his bit on the side the whole time,” Alannah says even louder.

I glance back and see six people square up, murderous looks on their faces. I turn back in time to see Parker’s boyfriend wince.

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